.38 Special +P

I’ve been a wheel man for MANY many years. This was primarily for one reason and one reason only – my very small hands. As a short man ( 5ft 4) with short fingers I have always found most popular defensive auto-pistols uncomfortable and pretty much impossible for me to shoot and point properly due to the brick-like grip dimensions. The Glock was out as was all the other double column “wonder-nines” and their ilk. The 1911 fit fine and I could shoot the low-pressure 45ACP fairly well but I was never very comfortable carrying cocked and locked and I don’t feel like chamber empty is a smart way to carry either. So after a lot of experimenting I ended up in the revolver camp. And that’s where I stayed for a LONG time. The revolver allows for a virtually unlimited size range of grips. With the revolvers slim grip frame I could choose an open back-strap design like the Bantam:

This would allow for a VERY close trigger reach which works well for a person with small hands.

I started out with a .38 Special J-Frame Centennial. I read a lot of Masaad Ayoob so naturally I wanted to load up with the legendary FBI load (158 grain +P soft lead hollow-point). And I often did. The problem was the load is all but impossible to find. So my replacement was the 129 grain +P Federal Hydra-Shock. But the more I read (a lot of Marshall/Sanow – I even have the hardcovers) I found myself wanting MORE POWER. So I moved up to the .357 Magnum.

.357 Magnum

According to the experts and actual street shooting statistics there is no better hand-gun launched man-stopper than the 125 grain .357 Magnum semi-jacketed hollow-point moving at somewhere between 1300 and 1500 feet per second (depending on specific ammo brand and barrel length). BUT that kind of performance comes at a fairly high price and I don’t mean dollars. I’m talking PAIN – pain in the ears due to the insanely booming loudness and pain in the hands from the mighty recoil.

Even with a lot of practice I found this just too much of a beast for a carry load in a small frame 5-shot revolver. So I switched to the “second best” loading – the 110 grain .357 Magnum semi-jacketed hollow- point. I would alternate that loading with the Remington 125 grain MEDIUM velocity Golden Saber also in .357 Magnum. I was fairly content with this carry load…although not exactly “pleasant” to shoot it was OK and I could hit OK with it at close combat (25 feet) range. A frequent reader of the “gun rags” it was drilled into my head to “practice with what you carry” or at least something close to that. So I would train with Winchester white box 110 grain Magnums or equivalent handloads. Well the all steel Smith and Wesson Centennial didn’t care much for the Magnum practice and after 7 years and only about 700 rounds of Magnums (and 300 or so mild .38s) the little gun was “shooting loose”. I sent it into the Smith & Wesson service department and they informed that:

“J-Frames are for personal protection & are not intended to take to the range and shoot magnums a lot”

See here for all the details from when it happened in the summer of 2003:

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=26219

I let them fix the gun and I sold it off having lost all faith in Smith and Wesson. I switched to the tank-like Ruger SP-101 and never looked back.

9mm

Fast-forward to the summer of 2011 and my buddy Elmo turns me onto his new auto-pistol – a Springfield Armory XDm in 9mm. I was skeptical at first “another 9 mm brick-grip?”. But he assured me I should try it. He explained that the guns come with a user replaceable back strap piece in 3 sizes and the smallest size should fit my trigger finger perfectly! So I took his gun to the range and I shot that gun better than ANYTHING I’ve ever shot and by this point I’ve shot an awful of different handguns! As far as I am concerned this is a revolution in handgun design. In one gun I can now have a modern easy shooting piece that can fit a variety of people’s hands. I’ve never been a GREAT shot but with an XDm I am a very GOOD shot.

I now own 3 XDms (2 compacts and one full size) all in 9mm and I love ‘em.

With the 9mm I am in a much better place in so far as ammunition selection. I like the Speer Gold-dot jacketed hollow point in 124 grain weight at +P velocity I also use the Federal HST in the same weight and also +P. These are rated at around 1,200-1,250 feet per second. Ballistically this puts them nipping at the heels of some of the best .357 Magnum self-defense loads and far above anything in .38 Special. Yet even with this “warm” load I find the guns no louder as far as blast/noise than the .38 Special and even EASIER to shoot. Other than their beautiful classic lines and pop-culture nostalgia the Revolver holds nothing for me anymore. I am no longer a wheel man.

“Address Gun Violence in Cities:  As president, Barack Obama would repeal the Tiahrt Amendment, which restricts the ability of local law enforcement to access important gun trace information, and give police officers across the nation the tools they need to solve gun crimes and fight the illegal arms trade. Obama and Biden also favor commonsense measures that respect the Second Amendment rights of gun owners, while keeping guns away from children and from criminals who shouldn’t have them. They support closing the gun show loophole and making guns in this country childproof. They also support making the expired federal Assault Weapons Ban permanent, as such weapons belong on foreign battlefields and not on our streets.”

A little over half way down this page:

http://www.change.gov/agenda/urbanpolicy/

Sad news. Fantastic actor and great NRA president Charlton Heston died yesterday. He was 83 years old. Full story here:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/06/movies/06heston.htm….

He made over 100 movies in a career that spanned 60 years. He won an Oscar in 1960 for Ben-Hur. Heston was a Civil Rights activist in the 60′s. He even marched with Martin Luther King Jr.. He was a great American and a passionate supporter of gun rights. He will be missed.

….Mr. Clinton, sir, America didn’t trust you with our health care system. America didn’t trust you with gays in the military. America doesn’t trust you with our 21-year-old daughters, and we sure, Lord, don’t trust you with our guns. – 1998

1) Taxes – Obama has lots of BIG plans for the federal government…tons of big projects including National Health care. These kinds of sprawling programs will require lots of money. Make no mistake anyone talking about programs like this WILL RAISE YOUR TAXES. This is what they mean by the term “tax and spend liberal”. My buddy says “he won’t raise my taxes, I don’t make enough”. A LOT of people would like to believe that & maybe in my friend’s case he won’t at least not at first. I just can’t trust a democrat NOT to soak the middle class. The middle class is the largest group. It’s a purse too attractive for them not to steal.

2) Nationalized Health care – I’m not in favor of this. Of course on the surface it SOUNDS good – “free health care for all!”. Someone will have to pay for it. And aside from the tax issues I have to ask the question: “Do you really WANT the Federal Government running the health care system?” Does this really sound like a good plan? The government can’t seem to handle Social Security so I don’t see why we should think to give them something as big and important as this.

3) Gun Rights – Barack Obama has been pretty quiet about his stance on the Second Amendment. In fact when I started to write this piece I searched all over barackobama.com. I figured I would go straight to the source. BUT it’s not really mentioned much at all beyond a few Obama supporters debating the issue amongst themselves.

But look here:

http://www.nraila.org//Issues/Articles/Read.aspx?ID=272

Obama is very anti-gun. He favors banning ALL hand-guns as well as semi-auto rifles. He also is in favor of a Federal Ban on Concealed Carry licenses.

Also see here:

http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/issues/issues.gun.html

This is a deal-breaker for me and I believe it should be a deal-breaker for any freedom loving American who believes in the right of self-defense.

Well I think this crappy “race” has gone on long enough for me to officially back someone. There is ONLY ONE true conservative that has a shot at the 2008 Presidential election and that is Fred Thompson. He is STRONG on guns:

I strongly support the Second Amendment of the Constitution, which protects an individual’s right to keep and bear arms. Gun control is touted as a major crime-control measure. But some of the places with the strictest gun-control laws also have high violent-crime rates. Disarming law-abiding citizens does not prevent crime. The answer to violent crime is smart, effective, and aggressive law enforcement. The real effect of these gun-control measures is to place onerous restrictions on law-abiding citizens who use firearms for such legal activities as self-defense, sport-shooting, hunting, and collecting. I am committed to:

* Strictly enforcing existing laws and severely punishing violent criminals.
* Protecting the rights individual Americans enjoy under the Second Amendment.

He’s also correct on taxes and many other issues. See here for more. I just hope he didn’t wait around too long for this to work out. I am afraid he has so I’m also listing my other picks in case he doesn’t make it.

If/when Fred is out then my picks would go like this:

1. Mike Huckabee – he’s charismatic and correct on a lot of issues. I also hear Chuck Norris will come to your house and KICK YOU IN THE FACE if you vote for any other candidate! His “fair tax” idea is intriguing but I worry a federal consumption tax may be a bit harsh on the lower middle-class and below folks.
2. Rudy Giuliani – he’s a cool guy (come on, he hosted SNL!). I like him a LOT. I think he would make a fantastic Secretary of State or something…BUT he is very liberal on a lot of the issues. He is pretty anti-gun and that is a HUGE show-stopper for me. But he is smart, likable and way better than Hillary or Obama.
3. Mitt Romney – If you watch the debates the guy just seems too “smarmy” to me. I don’t trust him. He is a John Kerry class flip-flopper. But alas he too is a better choice than Hillary or Obama.
4. John McCain – I just don’t trust the guy. He voted for that awful amnesty bill and he has a record of some rather nefarious dealings. But again he is a better choice than Hillary or Obama.
5. Ron Paul – I actually agree with an awful lot of what this guy says. Much of his beliefs echo my own libertarian leanings. The problem is the guy comes off as a world-class LOON when ever he speaks. For this reason and his sometimes racist commentary he just lacks credibility and is probably unelectable. Even with all that baggage I would STILL choose him over Hillary or Obama.